An Analysis of Cost Improvement Schemes for Electromagnetic Safety-Related Activities During Railway Project Implementation

In railway system construction, maintaining a reasonable cost of the system implementation has always been difficult without a well-defined strategy. This article describes the application of a switching algorithm to accommodate a reduction in cost drivers when performing a preinstallation electromagnetic compatibility measurement to identify interference from external environments along the railway alignment. The verification was exercised using measurement evidence through activity-based costing (ABC) analysis more accurately to reflect the budget against the traditional volume-based costing (VBC) method. The results were demonstrated through the total costs following the ABC and VBC breakdowns of the practical data, as well as the optimum number of test volumes for the opportunity of gaining high profit margins through the break-even analysis. By implementing the switch unit, an additional decrease in operation costs is achievable. The maximum total reduction is recorded at 28.55%, thus providing credibility to the proposed scheme. The outcomes can provide railway industries with financial benefits and are a useful reference for cost-effective on-site activities in dealing with safety impacts from external electromagnetic environments.